In Between the Lines
by OTP
Summary: Written for MSD's B-day, Roy is at home with his son who is having fun with a coloring book. Roy wants to give it a try. how is he going to do with coloring a simple picture? Royai


Otp: Hello people, I finally got something done. Yay me! Anyways I wrote this for MoonStarDutchess's B-day. I'm sorry it's a little late but I hope you like it and Happy Birthday

Disclaimer: I own nothing…except for the manga, the art books, the figurines, the dvd's…..

In Between the Lines

Fuhrer Roy Mustang was sitting at his desk at home trying to finish some paperwork before his wife Riza got home. His eyes shifted from the paper and towards his son who was spread out on the floor surrounded by crayons. He had a coloring book in front of him. Roy smiled and went back to work.

All was silent but for the tick-tock of the clock and the scratchy sound of pen on paper. It wasn't until about five minutes later that the silence was broken. Maes had gotten up and walked over to Roy with a crayon stub.

"Daddy, I can't use the crayon anymore it's too short. Can you fix it for me?" he asked with a stern look of determination. Roy was almost positive that came from Riza's side.

Roy put down his pen and took the crayon from his son's hand and examined it closely. He picked up his pen and pulled a blank piece of paper towards him.

By now, Maes had clambered up into his father's lap to watch what he was doing. Roy drew a transmutation circle and put the crayon in the middle and added a spare ink cartridge.

He looked down at Maes, "Alright, now what color did you want?" he asked.

"Brown!" Maes replied enthusiastically, clapping his hands.

Roy smiled, "Brown it is then." And he touched the circle and a bright red light filled the room for a few seconds.

It quickly dissipated and a brand new brown crayon now lay on the desk. Roy picked it up and handed it to Maes, "Go ahead and try it out."

Maes grabbed it and jumped off Roy's lap, "Thanks Daddy!" he crawled back to his spot on the floor and continued to color.

Roy watched him quietly for a few moments, thinking about how lucky he was to have such a wonderful family. He smiled and turned back to his work. He knew that Riza would be angry if he didn't finish the paperwork before she got home.

The room became silent once more as the two worked on their projects. Roy on his paperwork and Maes on coloring.

Ten minutes later, Maes jumped up and ran over to Roy, "Hey Daddy! Look what I did!" Roy put his pen down once more and turned to look at what his son was holding out to him. It was a picture of a dog and a boy playing fetch in a park. Roy thought it was a sweet picture.

"It's a very nice picture Maes. It's very colorful." He said ruffling the boy's hair. Maes pushed his hand away and frowned, he hated it when people did that to him.

"But _look_!" he pointed at the dog.

Roy was thrown for a loop, "Yes I see the dog…"

"No, not that silly. All the colors are inside the lines." He said impatiently as if it was obvious.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't realize…" Roy said scratching the back of his head. He was surprised that a child his age could do that. When he was five years old he couldn't color between the lines.

He took the picture from his soon, contemplating something. "Hmmm…Maes, can I borrow some of those crayons?"

Maes cocked his head to the side, giving his father an odd look, "Why?" he asked.

Roy smiled, "Well, Daddy wants to color a picture for Mommy." He said.

The boy's face brightened immediately and he ran over and scooped up his crayons and dropped them in front of Roy. He was bouncing up and down in his excitement, "What are you gonna color for Mommy?" he asked.

"Well, give me the book so I can look through it and I'll see what I can find." Roy said and Maes handed him the coloring book.

He began to flip through it and asked for Maes' opinion on a few before he finally found the perfect picture. It was of a hawk flying through the air and a herd of mustangs were running below in the plains.

"How 'bout this one? Do you think Mommy would like it?" he asked, showing the picture to Maes.

Maes grinned, "Mommy will love it!" he replied happily.

Roy grinned back, "Alright, why don't you go work on your homework while I work on this."

The boy pouted, "But I wanna watch. I don't wanna do my stupid homework." He whined.

With a small smile, Roy leaned forward and said, "Because I want it to be a surprise for Mommy. I will show it to you when I'm done."

Maes scrunched up his face, "But I want to watch you color it. Why can't I watch?" he said, crossing his arms.

Roy sighed, "How 'bout I give you a piece of that cake we have downstairs after dinner?" he asked.

The boy's expression said that he was suspicious, "You promise?" he asked.

"I, Fuhrer Roy Mustang, promise to give Maes Mustang a piece of cake after dinner if he does his homework." He said holding his right hand in the air.

Satisfied, Maes bobbed his head and bounded off to get his homework leaving Roy to his new project.

Now alone, Roy began to work on the picture.

About twenty minutes later Roy was working hard on his picture and Maes was struggling over his math homework. The only reason that Maes was struggling with his homework was because he was barely paying attention to it. He was glancing over at Roy every five minutes wondering what he was doing.

"Are you done yet?" he asked.

Sighing, Roy shook his head. That was the third time he had asked in the last five minutes and about the twelfth time in the last twenty minutes. He was almost done with it but it was taking him a bit longer due to his son's interruptions.

He knew the boy was anxious to see his work but he also knew that Maes wanted that piece of cake and was trying very hard to get it. Roy picked up the brown crayon and put the finishing touches on his masterpiece.

"There, now I'm finished. Come and see." He said holding up his work to admire it. Maes had tossed his homework aside and dashed to Roy's side.

"Let me see! Let me see!" he said waiting for Roy to show him.

Smiling, Roy held it out to him and waited for him to examine it. Silence reigned for a few moments then Maes gave his father and odd look.

"You didn't stay in between the lines." He stated flatly, glaring at Roy.

Roy almost fell over. Maes' statement was so blunt that he wasn't quite prepared. He didn't think it was that bad. He took the picture and looked it over again.

"I don't think it's too bad…" he said slowly.

Maes shook his head and crossed his arms, "It's not bad, it's really bad. Mommy will like mine better."

Roy was about to reply when they heard the front door open. Riza's voice floated through the house, "Roy? Maes? I'm home."

"Hey Mommy! Look what I did today!" Maes called out, wasting no time in dashing out of the room with his picture.

Being the mature adult that he was, Roy grabbed his picture and ran after his son.

He reached the bottom of the stairs to find Riza kneeling down in front of Maes. Hayate was sitting happily by her side, wagging his tail. He smiled and joined them.

Maes held up his picture and beamed, "Look Mommy! I colored in between the lines!" he said proudly.

Riza smiled, "It's beautiful Maes. You did a wonderful job. How about I put it up on the fridge?" she said and the boy ran off with Hayate right on his heels.

She stood up and Roy greeted her with a kiss, "How was your day?" he asked, sliding his picture into his pocket.

"Tiring, did you finish your work?" she asked as they walked into the kitchen. She took off her coat and draped it over the back of a chair.

"I did most of it." He said pouring her a cup of tea. By this time Maes had already plastered his picture to the fridge with tape. He bounded over to Riza and clambered into her lap.

"Daddy made a picture for you too but mine is better 'cause he didn't color between the lines." He said glaring at Roy.

Riza's eyes widened and then she smiled, turning to Roy, "Oh really, I think I'll have to see this picture. Hand it over Roy." She said, holding out her hand. Roy frowned, but pulled out the picture and placed it in her outstretched hand.

She took it and looked it over, her lips curling into a smile. She handed it back to Roy and said, "I like it dear. It's good enough to get put on the fridge."

He blushed a little and walked over and taped it to the fridge. Maes was looking up into her face with an incredulous look, "You like it? But he didn't even color between the lines." He said indignantly.

She laughed, "So? I still like it because he tried his best. Besides, I will like anything that my two boys make me." She said, placing a kiss on her son's head.

"Eewww, don't do that Mommy or I'll get cooties." He complained.

Riza grinned, "Cooties you say? Hmmm, I don't think they're that bad so I'll give you some more." She said, pulling the struggling boy closer and giving him a few more kisses despite his complaints.

Otp: This idea came from one of me and MSD's conversations on msn and yahoo. I have had this idea for a while so I decided to put it down on paper.

I hope you all liked it so leave a review! Thankies!!

Epilogue

It was one of Riza's rare days off and she was sitting at home with a group of friends. Maria Ross and Gracia Hughes had come over for lunch.

At the moment they were both examining the pictures on the fridge. Maria pointed to the one with the hawk and horses, "Did Maes do that?" she asked,

Riza shook her head, smiling, "No, he did the other one."

Gracia looked slightly confused, "He did the other one? But then who colored that one?" she said.

The smile on Riza's face only spread, "Roy drew that one."

Both women gave her a confused look before they all burst out laughing. Maria was almost doubled over, "It looks like it was drawn by a five year old."

Riza took a sip of her tea and grinned, "I know, but it has a certain charm to it doesn't it?"


End file.
